Breaking News: Rally held to support dairy farmers

June 15, 2007

By Amie Pappas/Frontiersman

WASILLA-Bob and Jean Havemeister are not ready to be put out to pasture. And Governor Sarah Palin wants to help, even though lines of communication have been strained with Matanuska Maid.

When Palin attempted to go to the Matanuska Maid site on Thursday she was denied entry into the state-owned building.

Board of Directors Chair Mac Carter would not comment on the incident, but did give a statement.

&#8220I have made three attempts to get a hold of Meg Stapleton of the Governor's office to ask the governor to stop talking to the media and for us to start talking to each other,” Carter said.

The dairy announced earlier this week its plans to shut down operations by next month. If that happens, the Havemeisters and other dairy farmers in Alaska will have no place to sell their milk.

On Friday morning, the Havemeisters hosted a rally at their family farm near Palmer to try and shed some light on the situation.They have been given only 20 days to stop operations and shut down.

Organizers estimated 200 people showed up to Friday's event, despite the fact that it was put together within 24 hours.

The dairy is the last remaining working dairy farm in the Matanuska Valley. It has been producing fresh local milk for more than 40 years.

Palin was brief but candid in her comments to the crowd.

&#8220Things are kind of a mess right now with what's going on with Mat Maid, and we're going to clean it up,” Palin said to hoots and applause. &#8220We're getting to the bottom of it. To show our commitment to you, we are going to help.”

Palin brought Commissioner Tom Irwin of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources up to speak.

Irwin said he appreciated the stand the Governor was making. &#8220We've got to solve the issue, everyone out here knows it's not simple. We know how hard you work, and we are committed to work just as hard.”

Irwin said the rally was a priority over the cabinet meeting that was being held up the road.

&#8220We don't have all the answers yet, but we are on your side,” Irwin said.

&#8220So many departments in the State of Alaska are affected by what's going on with the farmers and Mat Maid,” Palin said before she gave the microphone to Commissioner Joe Schmidt from the Alaska Department of Corrections.

&#8220It is near and dear to out hearts because we grew up here,” Schmidt said. &#8220The history and culture of this valley is tied to farming.”

Schmidt said government officials are talking about the issues and how they all relate to each other. He said that DNR and DOC have a bunch of ideas and a lot of energy.

&#8220We need to find a way to make this work,” Schmidt said. &#8220It's more than just the people at Mat Maid, it's not just five people being affected, that's a drop in the bucket.”

He also spoke about the Delta meat plant, 4-H and other connected livelihoods.

&#8220When I hear critics say, ‘Well it's not our role to bail out four little farmers,' they don't understand it's not just four little farmers, it's also our history.” Schmidt said.

Mat-Su legislators Carl Gatto and Mark Neuman also attended the rally. Gatto said something must be done to help dairy farmers immediately.

&#8220Cows have to milked twice a day.” Gatto said. &#8220We can't just flip a switch to make everything go away. We have to have a transition period and we will work for it.”

National Farmers Union president Tom Buis, along with 30 farmers from around the country, also attended the rally. They farmers said they wanted to give moral support after hearing about the rally at their annual board meeting in Anchorage.

&#8220You're going to take an economy and pull their leg out from under them? It doesn't make any sense,” Minnesota Farmers Union president Doug Peterson said.

Jean Havemeister said the rally was needed to bring attention to what farmers believe is a critical issue facing not just the Valley, but the entire state.

&#8220We didn't want to whine and complain but we knew we had to do something, we have been here since 1935 it's our livelihood,” Havemeister said. &#8220If the manager of Mat-Maid knew that they were going to close this up because they were in the red for two years, they should have notified the farmers. We have 180 cows. What do we do with our milk? You don't give a person three weeks notice. We feel that was unfair. We can't believe that the state would to do that to us, and with the help of Sarah and God I don't think they will.”

Contact Amie Pappas at 352-2284 or amie.pappas@frontiersman.com